A/C smell

[Gus]

Does anyone else get an odd smell from their vents after turning the A/C OFF and leaving the fan ON? Ive had it ever since I got my Astra and its really starting to bother me now.
Any ideas how to get rid off it?

[CNBLU]

change your pollen filter

[sooty]

mum has a similar problem in her vw jetta. whenever she turns a/c on it smells like public toilets lol. reckon replacing the pollen filter will help?

[InsaneAsylum]

all aircons smell funny for a bit once you turn them off, dunno why but doesn't seem consistent with the pollen filter. ie. does the same regardless of the age of the pollen filter. pollen filter filters outside air as it comes into the car and before it goes through the air con. if it was the pollen filter, you'd get the smell regardless of whether the aircon was on or off.

[Vectracious]

It's got to do with condensation inside the airconditioning equipment I think - until that moisture eventually evaporates (which in my experience has only been up to about 30 minutes) - you get a bit of a musty smell. Most cars do it (every one of mine has anyway.)

[KID_SRi]

It's got to do with condensation inside the airconditioning equipment I think - until that moisture eventually evaporates (which in my experience has only been up to about 30 minutes) - you get a bit of a musty smell. Most cars do it (every one of mine has anyway.)

You Nailed it like Jesus the Carpenter.

[sooty]

Mum's jetta isn't a musty smell though. It just smells wrong!
only happened after she'd done about 10k km...
And it doesn't really go away..just fades a bit after having it on for a short time
Oh yeah...and mine never stinks :D

[blueraven]

turn the aircon off, put the fans on full and switch between recirc and fresh air with the windows open for a few days while driving. It 'should' get rid of alot of the smell causing bacteria that grow in the moist condensate from the aircon. My partners car is terrible because she always drive with the aircon on, when you turn it off it stinks really bad like musty/mouldy. When i drive it i do the above trick, and its fine for a few days.

[xplosv57]

Or chuck an air con bomb into it, that will kill the smell as well as the mould inside the vents etc.

[imay]

Switch on A/C, switch on Recirc, spray a liberal quantity of Glen-20 (or similar but it must be an anti-bacterial spray not just a smelly cover-up!) into the intake vent under the dash/behind the glove box, and leave the fan running for a few minutes.
Do this on a regular basis and I have found there is no more "stale gym sox" smell to contend with when using the vents or A/C.

And . . . change the pollen filter every couple of years, regardless.

[Gus]

Cheers for your help guys.
Will try the Glen 20 trick this weekend.

[Mainframe_Module]

my yaris's air con used to ****ing STINK nomatter what....you would notice it more when pushing the engine hard up a hill or something, it was so annoying.

i havent noticed any smells in my astra..hmm, i usually have it set on automatic mode anyway so its pretty much always turned on unless i have the windows down which is rare.

[RobCDX]

i had the same prob with a weird smell coming thru the vents when the a/c was switched off, confused as all hell what it was.
i just had the 90,000km service on my cdx... part of the service was changing the pollen filter, now the smells gone when the a/c is turned off and just the fan running. suppose that filter does work and must've been filthy for it to have that smell attached

[imay]

part of the service was changing the pollen filter

Hmmm . . . maybe check the filter yourself. I'll bet they didn't change it! Not heard of too many Holden dealers that even know where it is, nevermind how to go about changing it! It's a hassel to get to and they really don't bother ("we don't see the need to change it" was one quote I got from a Service Manager).

They probably just ran an A/C cleaner through the system and charged you for a filter. In other words, probably just sprayed a product similar to Glen20 in the recirc intake.

Call me cynical if you like . . . but I've talked to these guys and they REALLY don't know or care!

[SKM_87]

i'll agree with that, i have friends that are holden mechanics and some of the shit that happens. trust me. check it yourself.